Gentle Into That Good Night
by ACGamer
Summary: <html><head></head>A bullet couldn't end her life. But a bullet ended his. She had too much pain to bear. But he didn't. She will search forever to find the murderer. But he will never be able to tell who it was. James/OC</html>
1. Prologue

_"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself."_

_- Joseph Campbell_

* * *

><p><em>2 Years Ago...<em>

He never was this late. He was always on time or early in fact. Her eyes stared at the clock, had she gone mad? Her watch showed the correct time with the tiny black points directing her to their numbers. The second hand ticked by little did she know something was dreadfully wrong.

* * *

><p><em>Run. Run. Run<em>

That was the only thought she could hear. Splashing her way through dense puddles that had formed in the streets. She knew where he was, she had to get to him. Soon. People turned to look at her thinking she was mad as she pushed through for the pace they were at was always too slow. Turning down another street she saw her destination and continued running as her breaths lacked air.

"Help!" A voice cried in pain. She stopped in the middle of the alleyway and looked from side to side until she heard the cry again. Right! Her thoughts exclaimed.

"Will!" She shouted over the roar of thunder.

"Kate!"

"Will!" She ran towards his voice.

"Over here! Over here," his voice began to quiet as Kate turned and saw him lying against a dumpster. She knelt down next to him holding his rain soaked face. He stared at her with eyes glassy and a hand over his heart.

"I'll get help!" She said getting up after seeing his wound.

"No!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her down. "Just stay with me," a tear rolled down his face mixing with the rain. Soon, tears appeared on her face and he wiped only a few with his thumb.

"I love you Kate. I know I've never said it a lot but I love you and always will,"

"Will, don't speak like that. Please let me get help!"

"Don't," he winced in pain as he tried to move. "Let it be my last want in this world." She placed her hand over his scarlet stained shirt and he smiled with his light blue eyes on her.

"It'll be okay...

She closed her eyes and when they opened he was dead. Tears poured on her face as she whispered coldly in his ear, "I'll find who did this, Will. _I promise_."

* * *

><p>Weeks passed after his untimely funeral. He was declared murdered that day by one of many of Gotham's criminals. Now, she stood in front of him reading his name on the carved stone.<p>

_William Irving Conway_

She just gazed at the gravestone. Was she hoping for a sign that he truly passed without a struggle? Was he okay? Anything would do she told herself even a leaf blowing in the wind but that was just nature and so was death.

"I know I told you this before Will but the person who did this man or woman, I'll find them. And I'll make sure they will bleed slowly." In her mind she could imagine the person shooting and leaving him for dead and then her doing the same to them. Her life was and will be forever changed.


	2. Chapter 1

_Present-Gotham City_

"Kate? Kate?!"

Her head gazed up towards the voice instantly causing her to knock over a thin stack of papers. She stood up from her chair and began to pick them up.

"Come on, already!" The same voice complained and she picked up her pace until all papers were picked up and placed on her desk.

"My face isn't down there," Kate looked up and saw Isaac standing in front of her. His red hair was neatly combed back, his small glasses resting on the bridge of his nose with his eyes staring at her.

"I'm going to get some coffee, want any?" He asked placing a brown fedora on his head.

"Thanks but no," she said organizing another stack. "I've got to work on an article-" when she looked up Isaac was already walking away. Kate rolled her eyes and went back to her work until she heard shouting from another room. Everyone in the area all looked where the noise was coming from, inside the office of Edgar Wallace. Soon, a man walked out with a camera in his hands and he was avoiding all eye contact the other people gave him. Wallace appeared from the corner of his door shouting, "Come back when you can actually take a damn photo!" Wallace slammed his door closed and everybody went back to work after that except this time there were hushed quiet voices speaking. She resumed typing her article as her thoughts were all absorbed in the words.

* * *

><p>"Conway!" Wallace barked. Kate stood up from her desk and went straight to his office in a hurried pace. She opened the door slowly and entered the lion's den. Edgar Wallace was a tall, thin man with hair black as a crow's feathers and cold eyes that were dark brown. But, most notoriously he had a fine, thin scar running down his right cheek and was always irritated when people would look at it. He once told her it was a reminder of his past which made her wonder what past did he had. Now, his back faced her as he stared out the window looking down at the city beneath them.<p>

"Have you completed your article yet?" He asked distracted.

"Yes sir, it should be completed by tomorrow," she responded as he turned to face her with a distant look in his eyes.

"Excellent, I bet it's written exquisitely,"

"Sir, is something wrong?" Kate asked. Suddenly, his eyes flickered to her which startled Kate in return.

"No, nothing is wrong. Now get out!" He pointed to the door and she gladly left breathing a sigh of relief when the door closed.

* * *

><p>The radio played a song which Kate automatically turned off. She sighed and continued driving back to her apartment along the narrow black streets of Gotham. Her fingers tapped on the wheel making her own rhythm as she made a sharp turn and parked to enter her apartment. She grabbed her folders and placed them into a bag full of writings for her job at the Gotham Gazette. After locking her car she slowly made her way towards her apartment building door until she heard an ear piercing scream. She curiously looked around and saw no one but an alleyway on the right. Kate held her bag tightly and walked down the shadowy area on either side of her was another alley but at the end on the left side was a boy on the ground. She started running towards him, as she neared she saw two figures lying on the ground. Kate realized they were his parents and the boy looked at her before she ran back to her apartment where she called the Gotham City Police Department.<p>

* * *

><p>Afterwards, the police arrived and covered the bodies in white but the blood still outlined the corpses. Kate had asked for a blanket to give to the child which was gray and large but would serve its purpose. As she carried it over to the boy who sat on the stairs his eyes were on her watching each movement carefully.<p>

"Here, this will keep you warm," she placed the blanket around the cold and silent child who shivered in response. She sat on the stair next to him and tried to comfort him.

"I'm Kate Conway,"

"Bruce Wayne," he replied quietly.

"Everything will be okay, Bruce,"

"Is that really true?" He asked looking at her. Before she could respond footsteps walked toward both of them, she looked up and saw brown eyes that were staring down at her.

"Detective James Gordon," he said introducing himself.

"Kate Conway," she replied standing up as they shook hands.

"You were the one who called?" He asked as she nodded her head. "My partner is over there," James said pointing towards a man talking to another officer. "He'll ask you some questions." Kate pushed her brown hair behind her and grabbed her coat tightly as she walked over to Gordon's partner who turned around shortly after she arrived.

"I'm Kate Conway. Detective Gordon sent me here-"

"Of course he did," he said chuckling. "Anyway, back to business what time did you discover the crime scene?"

"Around eight o'clock possibly, I didn't check the time."

"Thank you for your time ma'am, you can go home now." He said gesturing her away.

"What?" Kate asked confused. "That's it?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"What do I mean?" Kate repeated. "A child's parents are fatally shot and you only ask what time I found the scene?! It is your duty to protect this city and its inhabitants." Kate said pointing her finger angrily at him.

"Do you not think I know that?!"

"Well, you're not acting like it!" She said getting louder. "Do you have any paper?" From his jacket he pulled out a notepad and a pencil handing it to her. Kate took it and wrote her name and number on the piece of paper handing it back to him.

"Take it, Detective Gordon seems to care about this case. Give it to him if you can." He took the notepad and read her name as she walked under the yellow tape to her apartment building leaving the familiar flicker of red and blue lights behind her.


	3. Chapter 2

_The autumn leaves blew past her feet as she walked to her car. The funeral had ended and everybody was leaving to their cars. It was quick, quiet, and only she, Keith and Mike, who were friends of Will's, and Kate's friend Barbara Kean had attended. Her parents didn't even bother to show up after she called them numerous times asking for their attendance. That was the thing about her parents though; they were too occupied in their wealth to care about neither their now dead drunken son nor her. Once Kate sat down she peppered her red eyes with a tissue she held before starting the car. A knock on her glass window startled her though and saw Barbara standing outside. With a press of her finger she rolled down the window as her friend managed a smile._

_"Do you want to come to my place? Have some coffee-"_

_"Thanks, but I'd rather be by myself for now." She replied._

_"Okay, if you need anything you know I'm always here," Barbara said as Kate waved goodbye and drove away from the cemetery. She looked into her rear view mirror and saw Barbara walking to her car and the abundant gravestones that made a sea of gray._

_That Night…_

_She couldn't stop herself. It was the only way to lose his memory. She didn't know how many bottles she drank all she could do was stare at the all scattered on the floor some broken some empty. She kept drinking as she listened to a pounding noise in her ear. The door. It was coming from the door._

_"Kate! Open the door please!"_

_"Go away!" She shouted crying. She took another swig as more tears came down on her face. Her cheeks seemed to grow wetter from both the liquor and her tears._

_"I'll bust it down if I have to! Open it!"_

_"Please, go away!" Kate saw the world spinning as she stood up and immediately fell on the floor with a hard thud. She heard the door open and saw footsteps in front of her face before she passed out._

* * *

><p>The clock read 1:07. Kate couldn't sleep. The tragedy impacted her more than it should have, she saw death before. Why was this any different than Will's death? It was a murder, they happen almost every day to some unfortunate person and they become one less person in this obscure world. She laid against her headboard staring at the window in her apartment as moonlight crept in trying to break through the clear glass. But it was completely different; a child's parents were innocent victims to a murderer's bullet. As she thought she wondered if the way Bruce saw the world change? It probably had, it had to.<p>

* * *

><p>"He was so awkward. I mean the way he ate—no—inhaled his food I was about to throw up. I couldn't eat for the whole night!"<p>

"It sounded like a pretty bad date,"

"Pretty bad?! It was horrible! Uh! Let's change the subject because images are coming back in my mind," Barbara said. "How was your night?"

"Where do I start," Kate replied rubbing her forehead.

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to say, I mean-"

"Would you look at that?" Barbara interrupted.

"What?"

"Turn on the news Kate," Kate listened and went into her living and grabbed the remote and turned on the television and scrolled through channels until she found the news. On the screen it showed a picture of the mayor speaking with a caption at the bottom.

**MAYOR MOURNS WAYNE MURDER**.

"Who's that?" Kate asked watching the screen.

"Kate! Thomas and Martha Wayne? Really rich people? They were murdered."

Kate gasped and a wave of thoughts rushed to her. 'Bruce's parents? Bruce Wayne. _Wayne_. Two people murdered in the alleyway.'

"Kate? Kate, are you there?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I have a question though, didn't they have a son?"

"I'm pretty sure they did, I forgot his name though."

"Barbara, I have to go." Kate hung up and quickly got prepared and dressed for work. She felt like an idiot as she slipped on her jacket and rushed out of her apartment.

When she arrived at work she immediately set down her bag and started to unpack.

"Someone is in a hurry today," Isaac said observing Kate. She rolled her eyes and continued to ignore him. "Did you hear about the Waynes? It's unfortunate that we lost two of Gotham's lovely and excellent peoples." Isaac quietly walked away adjusting his glasses as he went. Kate didn't even notice until she looked up and saw the red head making his daily routes around the workplace. She went back to her work with haste, determined on writing an article.

**Author's Note:**

**Hello readers! I apologize for not updating this story enough and hopefully between school and homework I'll be able to update all my stories. Thank you for the continuing support for this story and my other stories! – ACGamer**


	4. Chapter 3

Kate began writing down all kinds of ideas for her article but there were still many things missing of course. She also sought out an interview of Bruce but she barely knew the boy, she only spoke to him once and there was always the possibility that he was going to refuse. She stared at the paper on her desk thinking about one person that possibly could talk to Bruce. James Gordon. She picked up her belongings and left the office with her destination in mind.

_Gotham City Police Department…_

As Kate pulled into a parking spot her eyes were on the massive building. The tall stone columns on the outside and the long set of stairs that led into the building with police leaving and entering. She exited her car and began walking up the stairs; she had passed the building before but never actually went inside. She took a breath before opening the door, inside the lights were dim and rest was mostly dark. There were desks full of papers on top in the middle with holding cells next to them and left of that was more desks except they were elevated on their own floor that looked over the main area. Officers were scattered around some watching the cells while others were at their desks.

"Can I help you ma'am?" A voice interrupted Kate's viewing. She saw an officer standing in front of her waiting for a response.

"Yes, do you know where I can find Detective James Gordon?" She asked as the officer pointed to his right. "Gordon is over there."

"Thank you," Kate replied leaving the officer. She stayed to the side as she walked towards her destination. Above she saw James sitting at his desk; he looked like he was in deep thought and here she was about to disturb him.

"Excuse me?"

James slowly lifted his head and looked at Kate who was standing in front of his desk holding her hands together.

"Detective Gordon, I'm Kate Conway." James stood up from his stupor and grinned pleasantly at her extending his hand as they shook.

"I apologize, Ms. Conway. My mind has been revolving around my work." He explained as he fixed a pile of papers.

"It's fine Detective, if anything I should apologize for disturbing." He stopped and looked at her again this time giving a small laugh with an amused expression on his face.

"I needed a distraction. Perhaps it'll make me think better," James said keeping his eye contact with her. They both smiled and Kate almost forgot why she was really there until she dropped her hands to the side and she felt her bag against her.

"Oh yes, Detective if you don't mind I needed to ask you something," Kate said reaching in her bag and pulling out her I.D. and placing it on his desk where he examined it. "I work for the Gotham Gazette and I would like to have an interview with Bruce Wayne about the recent tragedy."

The content look on James' face disappeared and became a look of solemnity as he placed her I.D. on his desk. It felt like the whole station grew quiet and nobody else was around. After a brief moment of silence he answered,

"I could probably arrange something but you must recognize that if he declines I cannot force him."

"Yes, I understand." Kate replied biting her lip nervously.

"How soon would you like it to be done?"

"Anytime tomorrow or this week," he nodded his head in response.

"I'll see what I can do. Thank you for coming Ms. Conway." James said as Kate thanked him as well and began to walk away until James called her back.

"Ms. Conway, can I have you number to contact you?" He asked. Kate was about to respond until she remembered that night with James' partner. Of course he didn't give him her number already.

"Of course," James handed her a piece of paper as she quickly scribbled down her two numbers for work and her personal. They both looked at each other before Kate walked away and James sat back down only to look at her for the final and last time.

_Outside…_

Kate pulled her seatbelt over her chest as she sighed looking back at the station. She was anxious to the fullest, she felt like she made a fool of herself as she closed her eyes and put her head against the headrest. Would Bruce say yes? Would this article be a success? _ .Tap. _She opened her eyes at the noise and looked to her left out the window and saw James standing right there. She rolled down her window.

"Ms. Conway, you left your I.D." He said handing it to her.

"Thank you Detective," Kate replied eagerly taking her I.D. back and placing it in the seat next to her. She gave him a small grin before starting her car and he turned around to walk away leaving two feet between them.

"Detective!"

James turned around and saw Kate looking directly at him.

"Yes ma'am?"

"I hope you find whoever did this safely and soon,"

"Thank you," James said as Kate drove away leaving him grinning and walking back up the steps to the bustling station.

* * *

><p>When Kate returned to the Gotham Gazette she headed straight to her office only finding a peculiar redhead on his knees searching through a drawer in her desk. Papers were spread out on the ground as Isaac pillaged completely oblivious to the fact Kate was standing behind him.<p>

"Is that a tattoo?" Kate asked looking at his undone shirt where she saw a black image on his side running down to his hip. Isaac jumped hitting his hand against the drawer causing him to grunt painfully as he held his hurt hand and stood up glaring at Kate.

"I believe you're supposed to say 'excuse me' to get someone's attention," he huffed irritably pulling his shirt down.

"What were you doing?" Kate asked.

"I was looking for something,"

"What would that be?" She asked. Isaac continued to scowl at her putting his red hand down and fixing his glasses as he moved closer to her.

"Something," Isaac said in a whisper. Kate watched the redhead smirk as he backed away contently, his smug face made her want to punch him right now.

"I'll say this once Brooks. If I ever catch you looking through any of my things, _you'll regret it_." She said aggressively.

"Your threats do not scare me," he replied still smirking. His blue eyes had a dark gleam to them that would probably frighten a child.

"We'll see about that Isaac." Until he disappeared from Kate's sight she started to pick up her papers and organize them the way they were. She stopped for a moment and wondered looking at her papers what was he searching for?

**Author's Note:**

**Hello readers! I apologize for not making my chapters very long and in the future I plan to make longer chapters as the story will continue. Thank you everyone who was reviewed, followed, and favorited Gentle Into That Good Night and have a Happy Thanksgiving!**


End file.
